First there was the Mellotron, which was unbelievably expensive and cantankerous beyond all hope. The big kids - Beatles, Yes, Moody Blues, Zepplin, Crimson, Genesis, Bowie etc. used it.
Then came whispers of a new STRING synth from ARP - the String Ensemble. Priced at $1,800 in 1973 it wasn't inexpensive, but it wasn't beyond all reach either. It was based on the Italian Solina keyboard, which in the U.S. cost $600 and sounded much thinner and cheaper.
These two keyboards made awful sounding string fakes possible for the everyman band. They sounded like strings as performed by a swarm of bees. Hits such as "Dream Weaver" celebrated their cheesy glory.
I grew to hate that sound, as I became sick of chorus pedals in the 70's and the DX7 piano in the 80's.
But what's old is new again and... I now kind of love the poor aesthetic sensibilities and bad taste that this sound expresses. Bring it on!
Enjoy.
Hey Ainsoph I think you got the first version with Ctl pedal and other mistakes. Please swap with new version.